The macro diet — short for macronutrients — is a way of eating that focuses on the balance between carbs, fats, and proteins. Macro dieting is based on the idea that different nutrients go into other metabolic pathways. The body uses a specific amount of energy, proteins, fats, and carbs, during each phase, which dictates what a macro diet strives to achieve. Through the right balance of high-quality proteins, fats, and carbs, you can give your body the quality nutrition to become faster and stronger at building muscle.
A macro diet is a diet that includes eating food with a large proportion of macronutrients. It has been advocated by Bill Phillips, author of Body for Life. You need to figure out what macro ratio is best for you. Interestingly, the ideal macronutrient ratio for each unique individual is also determined by their genetics. More on that later. By eating in the right proportions, you can lose weight and get more energy faster than you expected. Have you tried different methods to get your weight loss, but all proved abortive?
A macro diet might be the answer if you find yourself in this situation. This reasonably new type of diet works by counting your macronutrient intake. If you’re wondering what this means and whether it’s right for you, here are all the details of the macro diet. This post will enlighten and guide you through all the processes you need to take in achieving your weight loss goals.
What is a macro diet?
The macro diet is based on consuming three macronutrients — carbs, proteins, and fats. These are the three types of foods that your body breaks down to produce energy. Each nutrient has its benefits, so it’s essential to get enough of them in your diet. The purpose of the macro diet is to ensure that you do get enough of each of these nutrients.
How does macro dieting work?
The first step in using the macro diet is determining how many calories you need to consume each day. There are several ways to estimate this number based on your height, weight, and activity level. The next step is figuring out how much of each macronutrient you should consume daily. Since each macronutrient has a different caloric value per gram, you can multiply the percentage goals by four (carbs), nine (proteins), and four (fats) to see how many grams you should eat.
How does genetics affect macronutrient metabolism?
– Whole energy intake vs macronutrient preference?
There is a solid scientific debate about how health benefits are acquired when observing different diets with different macronutrients. Although many analyses imply that these benefits result from reduced energy input, there are also clear signs that macronutrient preference can make a difference. We are just beginning to understand how long-term macronutrient preferences could affect health.
– How can macronutrient preference affect my body?
Unfortunately, there is not an easy answer for each unique individual. Everyone’s genetic background is unique, so your macronutrient needs may not fall within a typical diet. This is often why there isn’t a diet that works for everyone, although advocates often tell you so. You can compare this with how different people respond differently to the same medication. This results from hundreds to thousands of discrete genetic variations, and the same principle is accurate for nutrition.
It is the mission of HealthCodes DNA to help clients relieve this pain point by developing non-invasive, at-home DNA test kits for nutrition and wellness. These DNA tests make for an easy depiction of your genetic metabolism so you can implement the results from the comfort of home to improve your health.
– Is it possible to predict macronutrient requirements for someone?
Presently, it is possible. Through large-scale population-based research studies, there are ways to predict your macronutrient requirements based on your genetics. At HealthCodes DNA, clients discover the proper amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates to incorporate into their diet based on their genetic macronutrient metabolism through an at-home DNA test for nutrition.
– Can one respond better to high fat or high protein?
This is possible with today’s science. Genetic markers influence your fat and protein metabolism. By combining a group of these markers and rating them accordingly, you are able to see if someone is better at processing fat, or protein than the average individual. All work is done at the population scale and is thus statistically significant.
– Are their models when we do know how to choose macronutrients.
Yes, it is true. Many of us understand that enormous amounts of sugar can stress the body and trigger health problems. However, sugar can be helpful also. If ingested during activity, there wouldn’t be significant adverse effects on you. There are positive effects, such as improved performance for specific actions. For certain situations, one should follow your medical recommendation. Sugar can be toxic to people who have diabetes as they are deficient in absorbing it from the blood. Interestingly, now we understand that some sugary products could be horrible for anyone with diabetes and have no adverse effect on another due to the contrasts in the hereditary makeup.
What are the benefits of a macro diet?
There are many benefits to ingesting an adequate amount of macronutrients. In principle, the macro diet aims to help people lose weight by focusing on the quality and quantity of food rather than counting calories.
Let’s look at how the macro diet works, including its benefits.
–Healthy weight loss: When you eat the correct quantity and quality of macronutrients, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, your body can maintain a healthy weight.
-Better digestion: A diet rich in macronutrients can improve your digestive health.
-Improved mood: Eating macro-rich foods gives you energy and improves your mood.
-Increased performance: Eating foods high in macronutrients can help you exercise longer and harder.
-Stronger immune system: A balanced intake of macronutrients can strengthen your immune system and reduce your risk of contracting an illness or infection.
– Build muscle.
– Increase your metabolism: It improves metabolic parameters, such as blood glucose levels.
– Improve your athletic performance.
Why you should track macros and your intakes?
The point of tracking macros is to optimize your nutrient intake. Most people think they’re getting enough of each macronutrient in their diets, but that’s not always true. Here’s a brief overview of each one, with a more detailed overview to follow:
Carbohydrates (carbs):
Carbs are often unfairly demonized in health and fitness circles. While they can be a problem if eaten in excess, carbs are essential for energy, performance, and general well-being. They also help fight hunger and keep your metabolism humming along nicely.
Protein:
Protein is often thought of as just a muscle-building nutrient, but it plays many other vital roles in your body. It helps you feel full after meals and speeds up muscle recovery from workouts by repairing tissue damage from lifting weights or doing cardio. And like carbs, protein is an essential source of energy for your body.
Fat:
Fat has been nicknamed nasty over the years for diets because too much of it raises cholesterol levels and increases heart disease risk factors like obesity and high blood pressure. This is where a macro calculator can be helpful, especially if you do not have much experience with eating this way. You can use an online free macros calculator to determine how many grams of each macronutrient you should consume each day, depending on your weight, height, and age.
How is a macro diet similar to — and different from — other diets?
You’ve probably understood the “macro diet,” but you may be wondering how it’s different from other diets. Here’s an analysis of how it works, who should try it, and what to watch out for. To understand how a macro diet is similar to and different from other diets, you first have to learn the basics of what the macro diet is. Macro diets are similar to and different from other diets in that both require you to track the food you eat, but a macro diet focuses on specific ratios of macronutrients — protein, carbs, and fat.
The macro diet is similar to other diets. It requires you to input your height, weight, and activity level into an online calculator, determining how many calories you should be consuming each day. This is a prevalent practice in most mainstream dieting programs. However, the macro diet is different from other diets in that it doesn’t restrict you from eating any particular food or food group. Instead, it uses a point system to help you make informed decisions about the foods you eat based on their nutritional value. For example, the macro diet allows you to consume various foods — including fatty and high-sugar foods — as long as they fit within your daily points allowance.
What Are Macronutrients—And Why Should We Give a Focus
You’ve probably heard the word macronutrient tossed around before. When you go to a nutritionist, they may ask you what your diet is like. They’ll likely break this down into macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. While micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are essential for staying alive and healthy, macronutrients are necessary for energy. They’re what our bodies use as fuel. The term “macronutrient” comes from the Greek words makros (“large”) and khreomai (“to nourish”).
-What exactly are macronutrients?
At their simplest, macronutrients are the building blocks of nutrition. You probably already know them as carbs, fats, and proteins. We use macronutrients for energy, build new tissue, and regulate critical bodily processes. The prefix “macro” means large instead of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) which are only needed in small amounts. However, it’s a little misleading.
We need more significant macronutrients than we do micronutrients—but not by much. Each gram of protein and carbohydrate comprises 4 calories (technically kilocalories, but let’s call them calories). Each gram of fat contains nine calories. So when you look at the calorie content of food, you see the macronutrient content expressed as energy. When it comes to our diet and health, the big question is: How much of each macronutrient should we eat?
The answer isn’t always clear-cut; it depends on age, gender, health goals (weight loss/gain/maintenance), activity levels, genetics, etc. It is important to get an ideal balance of all three macronutrients in your daily food intake.
– Macronutrient 1: Carbohydrates
Carbs are often unfairly demonized in health and fitness circles. While they can be a problem if eaten in excess, carbs are essential for energy, performance, and general well-being. They also help fight hunger and keep your metabolism humming along nicely. Carbohydrates (carbs) are the body’s primary source of energy—to a greater extent than protein or fat—and should make up about 45 to 65 percent of the total calories you eat each day, according to recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. Carbohydrates serve as fuel for the body to function correctly.
They are broken down into glucose for the body to use for energy. There are two types of carbohydrates: simple (like table sugar) and complex (like whole grains). The American Heart Association recommends that women get no more than 100 calories per day from added sugars. Carbohydrates have four calories per gram; therefore, if you eat 2,000 calories a day, that works out to 900 to 1,300 calories from carbs (225 to 325 grams). These foods include pieces of bread and grains, starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn, fruits, milk products, and sweets.
– Macronutrient 2: Protein
Protein is often thought of as just a muscle-building nutrient, but it plays many other vital roles in your body. It helps you feel full after meals and speeds up muscle recovery from workouts by repairing tissue damage from lifting weights or doing cardio. And like carbs, protein is an essential source of energy for your body. Proteins help your body repair tissue and make enzymes and hormones. Protein can be found in meat, dairy products, fish, nuts, beans, and eggs. Protein provides 4 calories per gram. It is needed for the growth and repair of tissues in the body and makes up 10 to 35 percent of daily calories.
If you eat 2,000 calories per day, that works out to 200 to 700 calories (50 to 175 grams) from protein foods like beef, pork, poultry, fish, and seafood; eggs; beans and peas; soy products. All the food mentioned above is rich in protein which helps build muscle and supports healthy skin and hair. The suggested daily allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
– Macronutrient 3: Fat
Fat is believed to cause an increase in cholesterol levels and increases heart disease risk factors like obesity and high blood pressure. Fat provides the body with energy, keeps the skin healthy, and helps you absorb specific vitamins like A, D, E, and K. Also, fat aids in vitamin absorption and helps protect vital organs like your heart and kidneys. Fat is also essential for hormone function and maintaining cell membranes. We have 4 types of fat: saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans fat (which should be avoided).
How do I calculate and track macronutrients?
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults aim for a daily intake of between 1,600 and 3,000 calories per day depending on their age, gender, and activity level. Using an online calculator, such as this one from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), you can find out how many calories you need to maintain your weight and make adjustments. When you’re on a ketogenic diet, your meals should contain a balance of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
The objective is to eat fewer carbs than your body needs for energy to turn to fat for fuel. To work out the exact amounts of each macronutrient, you need to eat, you’ll need to know your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). This is the number of calories you burn in a day. The simplest way to work out your TDEE is to use an online calculator. Use your gender, age, weight, and activity level to calculate how many calories you burn in a day. The calculator also tells you how much each macronutrient you need for a keto diet. Some apps can help you track how many grams of each macronutrient you’ve eaten. It’s not perfect – some people find that it reports more carbs than there are in certain foods – but it’s helpful when you’re getting started.
Nutrients are essential for weight loss or weight gain:
If you understand how to calculate and track these nutrients is essential for weight loss or weight gain; there are a few simple formulas to remember when calculating macros:
Calories = Protein x 4 + Carbohydrates x 4 + Fat x 9
Protein = Body Weight in lbs x 0.8-1.0 grams
Fat = Body Weight in lbs x 0.25-0.5 grams
Carbohydrates – Protein – Fat = Remaining Calories
Once you have calculated your macros, use a tracker to track your protein intake, carbohydrates, and fat throughout the day. Eating a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats will help you reach your fitness goals faster than cutting out entire food groups or eliminating fat from your diet completely.
How to use the macro diet for weight loss
The macro diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet similar to a ketogenic diet but with room for more carbs. It’s designed to help you build muscle and get lean. The meals allow for some flexibility, but you’ll follow a complex set of rules every day. And you won’t count calories instead of focusing on your macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein). You begin each day by eating 3-4 tablespoons of healthy fat like coconut oil or butter while avoiding carbs altogether (except for green veggies). Once the full 4 hours have passed since the first meal, you may eat up until the following day. The only carbs consumed should be green veggies in as unlimited quantities that you desire. Use this plan to tackle gaining muscle while getting lean!
How to count macros when trying to lose weight or build muscle
1. How to count macros for weight loss:
Counting macros is a dietary strategy that breaks down your daily calorie intake into specific amounts of macronutrients. This approach focuses on how much protein, fat, and carbohydrates you eat rather than calories. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, you might count macros to make sure you’re eating enough protein but not too much fat.
To count macros, you must first understand the relationship between the three macronutrients and energy. The number of calories in each macronutrient is as follows:
1 gram of protein = 4 calories
One gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories
For example, if your goal is 2,000 daily calories, you could aim for:
Protein: 200 grams or 800 calories (20%)
Carbohydrate: 300 grams or 1,200 calories (60%)
Fat: 50 grams or 450 calories (20%)
At HealthCodes DNA, we give you the exact ratio percentages of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in the Wellness Panel so you can understand exactly how much of each you need to take in each day to optimize your health based on your genetics.
2. How to count macros for bodybuilding:
If you’re serious about making gains, you need to be serious about counting macros for bodybuilding. Macronutrients are the factor of nutrition and what your body uses for energy. Macronutrients include protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Each macronutrient has a specific caloric value. One gram of protein has four calories, while one gram of carbohydrate or fat contains nine calories.
3. Counting macros for maintenance
To maintain your current weight, you need to eat the same number of calories that your body burns. If you’re at a healthy weight, you should be able to do this by eating regular meals and snacks and not skipping meals. The average man needs around 2,500 calories a day, while the average female needs around 2,000 calories.
4. How to count macros for the keto diet?
The ketogenic diet is low in carbohydrates, moderate protein, and an increased fat-based nutrition plan. A ketogenic diet can also help the metabolism run off fatty acids or ketone bodies. This is referred to as fat adjusted when the body has adapted to run off of fatty acids/ketones at rest. Ketogenic diets are often very satiating, making them great for individuals who get hangry (easily angry or irritable when hungry) between meals and for whom traditional snacking doesn’t work.
The most keto-friendly snacks are low in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and high in healthy fats. When you follow a keto diet, your macros are typically 5-10% carbs, 20-25% protein, and 65-75% fat (by calories). For example, if you’re following a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s 100 to 200 calories from carbs (25 to 50 grams), 400 to 500 calories from protein (100 to 125 grams), and 1,400 to 1,500 calories from fat (155 to 169 grams).
Conclusion:
The macro diet teaches you how to count the grams of proteins, carbs, and fats that you are eating within your calorie goal. The system is not just a calorie-counting diet, but it also considers the ratios of those macronutrients. This method can be beneficial for anyone looking to lose weight, build muscle, or maintain a healthy lifestyle.
That’s why at Healthcodes DNA, clients receive an ideal macronutrient ratio diet based on their genetics, so you can eliminate the guesswork in dieting and focus on unlocking their best self in as little time and effort as possible. The influence of genetics on diet and exercise is undeniable and HealthCodes DNA exists to help empower your workout and diet by leveraging these detailed insights to integrate into your diet and workout routines.
HealthCodes DNA offers DNA health test kits for accelerated weight loss, accelerated muscle gain, and maintenance to tailor the diet to your individual goals and needs. Which one you pick is up to your specific needs, though the recommendation would be to select the comprehensive 3-Panel Analysis, which includes the Wellness Panel, Nutrition Panel, and Fitness Panel with a total of 40 DNA test results all in one. The best part about HealthCodes DNA’s tests is that the results stay with you for a lifetime, as the genetic markers (SNPs) that HealthCodes DNA examines do not change throughout the course of your lifetime and are not affected by lifestyle changes.